Aristotle A. Esguerra has served in the Diocese of Madison since 2009 as music director at the churches of St. Mary, Pine Bluff and St. Ignatius, Mount Horeb, and as the chant instructor to the Cistercian Nuns of Valley of Our Lady Monastery, Prairie du Sac.

“Worse, composers are now setting the introits of the missal [instead of the Graduale] to music, even to chant, though these texts were explicitly for spoken recitation only.”
— Dr. William Mahrt (Fall, 2015)

OR A LONG WHILE I’ve been ruminating on the nature of the Liturgy, Scripture as found in the Mass Propers, the Golden Calf narrative (thanks to Ratzinger’s Spirit of the Liturgy), Good Friday tradition, and episcopal authority. Here are some semi-organized thoughts on the matter.

Nature of the Sacred Liturgy:

The Sacred Liturgy is Christ’s eternal offering to the Father, in which we participate “through him, with him, and in him in the unity of the Holy Spirit”: Christ makes the perfect sacrifice, and we configure ourselves to it through submission to his liturgical action as laid down by the Church—“without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

The Latin Rite, Scripture and its Nature, and the Mass Propers:

On paper, the Latin Rite Mass may well be the most explicitly Scriptural rite in all of Christendom. Scripture is not limited to the readings and psalms of the Liturgy of the Word. The Order of Mass itself is awash in Scripture. Moreover, the proper texts of the Mass—most neglected during the Processions of the Mass—come from the psalms, Old and New Testament canticles, and Gospel/Epistle passages. (Non-Scriptural proper texts are insignificant in number compared to the vast array of Scripture intended to be sung—and even these non-Scriptural texts are in most cases to be paired with verses from Scripture when possible.)

What does Jesus sing? Psalms were sung perfectly by Christ to the Heavenly Father during his earthly life as the perfect Jew, making the perfect sacrifice to the Father by following the Law perfectly in every way (Matthew 5:17). As Christ is the Eternal Word (John 1:1), the words he utters are a touchstone to eternity; they echo forever. Therefore, when the Propers are sung, Christ sings—I tell my choirs that singing Scripture allows for a “communion” of sorts even before they receive his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity; “they do not sing, but Christ sings through them” (cf. Galatians 2:20).

Liturgical Norms: GIRM (I use the US edition since this is where I live), via the examples given in the ritual books cited, calls for Scripture to be sung at the three processions of the Mass (GIRM 48, 74, 87):

Option 1 prescribes the Proper (Missal or Roman Gradual) — scriptural

Option 2 prescribes the Proper (Simple Gradual) — scriptural

Option 3 prescribes selections from other collections of Psalms and antiphons, provided they are approved by the bishops — scriptural

Golden Calf, Good Friday, and neglect/abuse of episcopal authority in the liturgy:

The Golden Calf and GIRM Option 4: Aaron the high priest fashioned the calf from the contributions of the people, at the behest of the people (Exodus 32:1–6). God did not approve this; in fact he hated it to the point of eradicating his chosen people (Exodus 32:7–10); but the people may well have led themselves to believe that Aaron’s command was divine (neglect of priestly authority, i.e., “Aaron allowed us to do it, so it must be right”). Ratzinger observes that the people may have believed they were truly worshiping God, though of course they were not (Spirit of the Liturgy 22–23). When Moses confronts Aaron about the abuse he committed, Aaron heaps more sin upon his misdeed by being disingenous (“I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out”, cf. Exodus 32:24). The rest of Exodus 32 outlines the grave consequences of this error.

In the United States, Option 4 allows “another suitable liturgical song” approved by the bishops. Despite many suitable liturgical songs from the treasury of the Church’s liturgy (hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours, Sequences, Litanies, Responsories, etc.), many songbooks intended for use in the liturgy and “printed with ecclesiastical approval” include texts of questionable merit. The people in this instance believe they are worshipping God in spirit and truth, but is that the case? People are developing an attachment to these words, but are the words of Christ?

Good Friday and Option 4: Barabbas means “Son of the father”; tradition tells us that his first name also was Jesus (i.e., “God saves”). The mob, incited by the high priests and scribes, chose Barabbas—a savior of their own imagining—to be released instead of the true Savior, the Son of the Eternal Father. With the new Mass, Option 4 allows the Word of God (Options 1–3) to be cast aside for words of people’s own choosing. In doing so, do we not unwittingly repeat Good Friday, in that we choose the words of man over the Word of God living and effective (Hebrews 4:12)?

At least with the Responsorial Psalm there is clearly delineated demand for Scripture: “Nor is it lawful to replace the readings and Responsorial Psalm, which contain the Word of God, with other, non-biblical texts” (GIRM 57). But the Church also demands Scripture be retained for the processional chants of the Mass (Sacrosanctum Concilium 116).

Episcopal Authority: Until the bishops speak and act in one voice on the matter, calling for the restoration of the Word of God to God’s own liturgy, individual bishops, priests, and laity sympathetic to the sung Mass, propers in their Gregorian/polyphonic genres, etc., are stuck with “more Catholic than the Pope” accusations, etc. The biological solution works on everyone, and for those unsympathetic to these genres, they too can play a “waiting game”. How many people consider Benedict XVI’s pontificate a blip on the radar?

Textual upgrade, not stylistic downgrade: Since Gregorian chant is the sung prayer proper to the Roman Rite, Masses that incorporate the propers in this idiom should not be eliminated, nor should efforts to learn this repertoire be abandoned. However, in those environments where this is not feasible in any way, moving from Option 4 to Option 3 would foster throughout the Mystical Body of Christ a greater unity with him who makes his eternal song to the Father.

May be the only way forward in many places: Singing Scripture that is clearly identifiable as such would go a long way towards fostering true unity in the Church’s liturgy—a unity centered on and in Jesus Christ, who alone makes the true sacrifice to our heavenly Father. In places that frown upon the Church’s traditional ritual music, moving from non-Scriptural lyrics to Scriptural lyrics may be the only feasible transition at this time.

Priests have expressed concern about throwing the Word of God into the garbage every few months. The Isaac Jogues Illuminated Missal contains the complete Sunday readings for Years ABC, complete Gradual texts, and magnificent page layouts.

Watershed assisted the Birmingham Oratory with media work leading up to the Papal visit and Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Our documentary shorts provide online tours of the Oratory, including the Cardinal’s Room and Library as well as the parish church and its chapels.

St. Jennings was executed for being a Catholic priest. Seized whilst in the act of saying Mass in the house of St. Swithun Wells, he was hanged, drawn and quartered outside the same house. His execution was particularly bloody. St. Swithun Wells was hanged immediately afterwards.

This new Gregorian Chant Mass (with optional organ accompaniment) uses the new ICEL translation of the Roman Missal. We provide free practice videos, vocalist scores in modern and Gregorian notation, congregational booklets, and much more!

Kevin Allen's brilliant new SATB collection of twelve (12) Sacred Motets that can be used all throughout the Liturgical year. 144 Practice videos by Matthew J. Curtis. Optional Psalm tones written out for each piece, in Latin & English.

Here is a newly-composed Gregorian Chant GLORIA in honor of Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (†1628). Please feel free to download the PDF organist scores, PDF vocalist scores (in both Modern and Gregorian notation). This setting uses the new ICEL translation of the Roman Missal.

A 70-page collection of polyphonic Motets that can be sung by the average parish choir! Although the pieces were designed for SSA or TTB choirs, they also work well for mixed choirs. Matthew has also recorded 56 free practice videos to help your choir members learn these beautiful pieces.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father . . .

If you have an SATB choir that would love a brand new collection of dignified, beautiful, not-too-difficult motets, you need to check out Kevin Allen's "Cantiones Sacrae Simplices." Vocal phenomenon Matthew J. Curtis has also recorded more than 144 practice videos which carefully instruct singers who do not read music well. All 144 training videos are free!

Watershed assisted the Birmingham Oratory with media work leading up to the Papal visit and Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Our documentary shorts provide online tours of the Oratory, including the Cardinal’s Room and Library as well as the parish church and its chapels.

Distinguished composer Kevin Allen has set twelve Eucharistic Motets for three voices. Although the pieces were designed for SSA or TTB choirs, they also work well for mixed choirs, and a special transposition table has been included for the ease of the choirmaster. Choirmasters and singers will appreciate the fact that these pieces are not difficult to sing.

An hour-long documentary on Sacred Music. Watershed's cameras take you inside the 19th annual Sacred Music Colloquium, sponsored by the Church Music Association of America. The DVD includes a 45-minute, never-before-seen interview with Dr. William Mahrt, CMAA President & Stanford Professor.

The Rt. Rev'd Dom Hervé Courau, Abbat of Notre Dame de Triors, has authorised Watershed to post the Community's Gregorian chant recordings on our sites. For this gracious permission, sincere thanks to Father Abbat, also in the name of all those chanters who will profit from studying these beautiful sung prayers of the Church.

John Henry Newman was born in London (2/21/1801) and died in Birmingham (8/11/1890). As Vicar of St Mary’s Oxford he exerted a profound spiritual influence on the Church of England. Through his extensive published writings and private correspondence he created a greater understanding of the Catholic Church.

This is part of our ongoing Liturgical work, and we are grateful to the many guest composers who generously donate their scores. In addition, we offer free resources for all the other parts of the Mass, and currently provide more than 6,000 free Liturgical scores.

Kevin Allen's world-famous SATB "Tantum Ergo" is now in print. This piece has been enjoyed by many thousands of people, and is featured as the opening piece on "Sacred, Beautiful, & Universal: Colloquium XIX." Corpus Christi Watershed is proud to offer this Motet, along with fourteen other beautiful Motets, in "Cantiones Sacrae II."

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